Posted By G Living Staff Monkies On January 1, 2009 @ 5:00 pm In Architecture / Interior Design,G Living | No Comments

Move over, Master Po…there’s a new Grasshopper in town. San Francisco-based Fougeron Architecture, headed up by the determined Anne Fougeron, successfully rehabbed yet another structure.

I know… “yet another” sounds like “ehhh…whatever…” But the big deal about this fête accompli comes from the pre-rehab structure itself. Fougeron took an underutilized San Francisco concrete warehouse, waved her wand and Casa Crumbling Concrete became the elegant Tehama Residence, affectionately known as The Grasshopper.

Hearing this story, I couldn’t help but imagine owner Jason Shelton and architect Anne standing inside the cold, dusty building, amidst rusting equipment and rodent droppings as they envisioned its transformation. Anne saw beyond the rubble and fantasized a design of light and fluid space.

Soon, the fantasy became reality with elements of glass, marble, and steel floating within the existing concrete walls. The home portion of the former warehouse altered into a minimalist extraordinaire heaven. The open floor plan, free of walls and rooms, offers radiant concrete floors, numerous windows, and an open stairwell to allow for an easy flow of heat and cooling. The remainder of the structure evolved into a neighborhood-friendly, mixed-use building.

While I personally need my clutter (and the half-consumed cups of coffee I seem to leave everywhere), I have to admire the austere Tehama Residence. And who doesn’t think lofts are cool?

“Arc-ing” to the top in the architectural field requires grit. And if this place is as good as it sounds, it must have true grit. To quote the words of Kung Fu Master Po, “Well done, Little Grasshopper”.